ACLU Releases Navy Files On Civilian Casualties In Iraq War

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today released thousands of pages of documents related to Navy investigations of civilians killed by Coalition Forces in Iraq, including the cousin of the Iraqi ambassador to the United States. Released today in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the ACLU filed in June 2006, these records provide a vivid snapshot of the circumstances surrounding civilian deaths in Iraq.

Public Has A Right To Unfiltered Information About The Human Cost Of War,
ACLU Says

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today released thousands of
pages of documents related to Navy investigations of civilians killed by
Coalition Forces in Iraq, including the cousin of the Iraqi ambassador to the
United States. Released today in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request by the ACLU filed in June 2006, these records provide a vivid snapshot
of the circumstances surrounding civilian deaths in Iraq.

"At every step of the way, the Bush administration and Defense Department
have gone to unprecedented lengths to control and suppress information about the
human cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Nasrina Bargzie, an
attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. "Our democracy depends on an
informed public and that is why it is so important that the American people see
these documents. These documents will help to fill the information void around
the issue of civilian casualties in Iraq and will lead to a more complete
understanding of the prosecution of the war."

The ACLU obtained documents from eight Naval Criminal Investigative Service
(NCIS) investigations. One of the files documents the investigation of the death
of Mohammed al-Sumaidaie, a cousin of the Iraqi ambassador to the U.S, Samir
al-Sumaidaie. In 2006, the ambassador accused Marines of "intentionally" killing
his cousin and today's records shed light on al-Sumaidaie's NCIS investigation
for the first time. Among the findings uncovered in this file are conflicting
accounts of events, questions of credibility, possible command influence issues
and cover-ups.

"As these files remind us, many charges of war crimes in Iraq have not seen
the light of day," said Michael Pheneger, a retired Army intelligence colonel
who is also a board member of the ACLU. "There are many discoveries here that
should bring pause to any American who cares about this country and hopes to
restore the United States' respected role in the world. It is time to bring the
facts about this war into the sunlight and end practices that go against our
laws and national values."

Through its FOIA project, the ACLU has made public information on Defense
Department policies designed to control information about the human costs of
war. These practices include:

• Banning photographers on U.S. military bases from
covering the arrival of caskets containing the remains of U.S. soldiers killed
overseas; • Paying Iraqi journalists to write positive
accounts of the U.S. war effort; • Inviting U.S.
journalists to "embed" with military units but requiring them to submit their
stories for pre-publication review; • Erasing journalists'
footage of civilian deaths in Afghanistan; and • Refusing
to disclose statistics on civilian casualties.

Attorneys involved in this project are Bargzie, Ben Wizner and Jameel Jaffer
of the ACLU National Security Project. In a separate lawsuit, the ACLU sued for
records concerning the abuse of prisoners held by U.S. forces in Iraq,
Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay. To date, that request has resulted in the
release of more than 100,000 pages, all of which are available online at: www.aclu.org/torturefoia